Our Ethos & Vision

At Cherwell we set our students and ourselves “no limits” and we embody the greatest ambition for all our young people. We are a school which always places emphasis on the individual. We always seek to be inclusive and are proud of our diversity, but we know we need to do more in these areas and so they remain central to our planning. We prioritise our rich, incredibly varied curriculum which has multiple progression routes so it can genuinely open up the world to our young people. Our central aim is to meet our students’ needs that we recognise are hugely varied so that they flourish socially and academically, during and beyond their time at Cherwell.

The Cherwell School Aims

The Cherwell School is a vibrant place where, as a community of individuals, we are committed to and enthusiastic about creating and using opportunities to their fullest extent. This is so that students, staff and members of the wider school community can enjoy success and be well-equipped for the future. 

We have four main aims that we return to regularly and renew:

Opportunity:

Individuals have the opportunity to develop their abilities and talents, and to be successful.  We want everyone within our community to be nurtured, challenged and encouraged to make the most of opportunities. We always strive for equality of opportunity and to give our young people the chance to develop in a range of fields. We focus on providing opportunities in multiple ways both in and outside of the classroom. It is vital that these opportunities are meaningful for all of our students especially those who are disadvantaged or who have Special Educational Needs. We want to allow our young people the space to create and explore what is possible. We understand that school carries very high stakes for young people and where we can we will always look to provide opportunities for joy and pleasure. 

Responsibility:

As a community of individuals, we recognise that we have a range of responsibilities. We work with our young people in the knowledge that society benefits from people who take ownership of their actions. This is both in terms of their own self-development but also in relation to how they interact with others. We will make sure that we continue to emphasise the importance of responsibility both through our curriculum, the wider opportunities we offer, and through our emphasis on culture and behaviour. Teamwork and collective responsibility support the success of individuals and we will make sure these aspects are central to our work.

Excellence: 

There is a commitment to excellence in all that we do. We have a culture of high expectations and standards for all. Within our school, we judge excellence as being about having high expectations of yourself and others as well as determination to see something through (in contrast to having low expectations and adopting a half-hearted approach). As a result, it is these attributes that we will look to recognise. We will make sure that we teach students that success isn’t automatic and help them to develop the resourcefulness required to reach their goals.

Kindness:

A deliberate act of kindness for other people is a central human value and benefits everyone. We have a very busy, heavily populated school. In this environment, we feel it is essential that we continue to draw attention to the importance of kindness. We encourage all of our community to give and receive acts of kindness. We recognise that this often happens on a very individual level, but we also know that we can look more widely to recognise the need for kind acts in wider society and in our local area. We make sure that we don’t confuse kindness with “letting people off” or “excusing”. Having high expectations of others is, in itself, an act of kindness. In this sense, kindness and consistency work alongside each other and help to allow all our students to thrive.

For further details regarding the School’s Development and Improvement Plan please click here.